Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of any impact of the requirement under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 that the children of asylum seekers be schooled outwith the state sector in purpose-built accommodation centres.

Cathy Jamieson: The education of the children of asylum seekers in accommodation centres is a reserved matter.

Bathing Waters

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications, and for which beaches it currently has for designation as bathing beaches.

Ross Finnie: The Executive has received two requests to designate bathing waters since the last round of designations took place in 1998. One from Dundee Council to ask for Broughty Ferry to be designated as a bathing water and one from Largs Beach Watch Group who have requested that Pencil and Largs Main Beaches be designated.

Bathing Waters

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to see a copy of the European Commission’s draft revised bathing water directive.

Ross Finnie: The European Commission issued a proposal for the revision of the Bathing Water Directive on 24 October 2002.

BSE

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many tonnes of rendered cattle carcasses remain in storage following BSE outbreaks and at what specific locations such rendered remains are being stored.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Ross Finnie: At the start of November 185,000 tonnes of meat and bonemeal remain in storage across the UK, at various locations, including one in Scotland at Whitehill Industrial Estate, Glenrothes.

Child Welfare

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking "to promote positive, participatory and non-violent forms of discipline and respect for children’s equal right to human dignity and physical integrity, engaging with children and parents and all those who work with and for them, and to carry out public education programmes on the negative consequences of corporal punishment" as referred to in the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s concluding observations on the UK’s compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Dr Richard Simpson: The Executive wishes Scottish parents to have information on the possible effects of physical punishment of children, and to have access to positive parenting approaches to discipline. In the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill it is also seeking to clarify and tighten the law on physical punishment. It is currently developing an information strategy, which will be co-ordinated with the implementation of the bill, to provide information and positive parenting approaches both to parents and to the professionals and agencies who support and advise them.

Children's Hearings

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many re-referrals to children’s hearings there have been in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration is currently collating this information for publication in its Statistical Bulletin in 2003.

Community Safety

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how local communities can obtain funding for the installation of CCTV cameras when such communities are unable to access and secure funding for such projects through the Community Safety Partnership Award Programme or the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund.

Dr Richard Simpson: As advised in the answer given to question S1W-26106 on 24 June 2002, about the Executive’s support for CCTV, Community Safety Partnerships can allocate resources from their annual allocations from the award programme to both the capital and current element of CCTV in their areas if they choose to do so.

  I understand that an application for CCTV has been submitted by a community group in West Renfrewshire to the Rural Challenge Fund, one of the three elements that make up the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund, and that the Environment and Rural Affairs Department is currently in the process of assessing all bids received including that one, with ministers’ decisions expected to be announced in January 2003.

  The Executive wrote to Chief Executives of Local Councils and Chief Constables on 30 October 2002 advising them that Scottish ministers have agreed to allocate additional funding of £2 million within the current financial year 2002-03, to extend, improve, integrate and modernise existing CCTV systems in their areas and to assist police forces in Scotland to introduce Automatic Number Plate Recognition Systems technology linked to the CCTV systems as a crime prevention initiative to combat serious crime, improve crime management and enhance criminal intelligence. Local councils are co-ordinating the applications which they must submit by 29 November 2002. However, new "stand-alone" systems will only be considered if councils can demonstrate that these systems will be, or are part of, a strategy which has or aims to have all systems operating in the area integrated and monitored from the same station.

Community Safety

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what grants were awarded to Renfrewshire for the use of mobile CCTV cameras in crime and vandalism hotspots in each of the last five years.

Dr Richard Simpson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-31385 on 19 November 2002, which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for this can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search .

Concessionary Travel

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it cost to set up the Thistle Travel Card scheme; how the scheme is being monitored; what part travel companies played in developing the scheme, and what information about the scheme has been issued to public transport operators.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive awarded ENABLE £50,000 in start-up costs to take forward the Thistle Travel Card Scheme last year. ENABLE is monitoring the impact of the scheme and the Executive is in close touch with them on this.

  ENABLE worked with a consortium of charities, local authorities and transport companies throughout Scotland in developing the scheme, and has issued transport companies with guidelines on the scheme for distribution to all their transport staff.

Concessionary Travel

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what checks and balances are in place to ensure that bus operators run the concessionary travel scheme correctly and by what means the scheme will be monitored.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive works jointly with other partners through the Concessionary Fares Working Group to oversee implementation of free local off-peak bus travel through existing schemes, which are administered by local authorities in partnership with bus operators.

  A research report has been commissioned by the Executive to monitor travel behaviour both before and after the enhancements came into force in order to accurately gauge their impact.

Crown Estate

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30495 by Lewis Macdonald on 13 November 2002, whether it will undertake an assessment of the impact of Crown Estate seabed rentals for subsea cables on the laying of (a) power cables needed to harness renewable energy resources and (b) fibre optic telecommunications cables needed to provide fast information and communication technologies connections to the islands.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has no plans to undertake an assessment of the impact of any specific elements of the operational costs of laying power or telecommunications cables, such as Crown Estate rentals and royalties.

Drug Misuse

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the rationale for the methadone programme is (a) clinical effectiveness or (b) to achieve a reduction in crimes committed to fund drug habits.

Dr Richard Simpson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-18141 on 18 October 2001. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

  The member may also be interested to note that a recent systematic review by the Executive's Effective Interventions Unit, The effectiveness of treatment for opiate dependent drug users, found that methadone maintenance is effective in relation to treatment outcomes. The publication can be accessed at: http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/eiu/pdfs/eiu_opi.pdf.

Drug Misuse

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it will give to the recent research by the British Lung Foundation stating that smoking cannabis carries a seven to one higher degree of risk than smoking ordinary tobacco cigarettes.

Dr Richard Simpson: We were aware, prior to publication of the British Lung Foundation study, that cannabis carries potentially serious health risks, including risks posed by levels of carcinogenic tars, gases and chemicals which exceed those found in tobacco.

  As part of our Drugs Communications Strategy, we published, in July, a Know the Score booklet on cannabis. The booklet sets out the legal position in Scotland, and the risks to physical and mental health associated with this drug. The text already makes it clear that smoking cannabis may be more harmful than smoking tobacco, since cannabis has a higher concentration of certain chemicals which can cause cancer. We printed 45,000 leaflets, and it is now being reprinted to meet demand. We will also publish a shorter version, perhaps credit-card sized, aimed specifically at young people.

  The free and confidential Know the Score Informationline can also provide advice on cannabis, and information can be accessed on the Know the Score website.

Drug Misuse

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will expand its campaign that highlights the health risks associated with tobacco smoking to include any increased health risks arising from smoking cannabis.

Dr Richard Simpson: The Executive has helped to fund the publication of an updated version the Fags & Hash leaflet, prepared in partnership by Action on Smoking and Health Scotland, the Scottish Drugs Forum, the Health Education Board for Scotland and the West Lothian Drugs and Alcohol Service.

  This leaflet sets out the health risks from tobacco and cannabis, and it highlights that cannabis contains higher levels of dangerous tars and gases than tobacco. The leaflet has been given wide distribution in Scotland.

Emergency Planning

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what emergency planning measures have been put in place for incidents involving nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines and ships and whether it will make details of any such measures publicly available.

Dr Richard Simpson: I can confirm that there are thoroughly tested plans in place to deal with safety issues in respect of submarines operating around the coastal waters of Scotland. The Clyde Public Safety Scheme and the Rosyth Public Safety Scheme are the two most significant examples. These are published documents and are available in these two areas in public libraries.

  The contingency plans are designed to respond to a wide range of possible scenarios, to address the full range of known effects from potential accidents, irrespective of the cause or location, and to be equally effective whether a submarine is at sea or berthed.

Enterprise

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of foreign disinvestment and company closures with associated job losses was in each of the last five years and what level of public financial support was provided to each company involved.

Iain Gray: The information requested is not held centrally.

  For internal purposes, reports of job losses by companies, local enterprise companies and newspapers are monitored. However, the Executive cannot vouch for the accuracy and completeness of this information and therefore does not consider that it should form the basis of a response to the question.

Fire Service

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what local authorities will be charged for the use of Green Goddesses and military service personnel during the forthcoming fire service strike days.

Dr Richard Simpson: Costs have already been occurred by police and the military in the preparation of plans against the possibility of fire service industrial action but until the police forces and the MoD submit detailed costs it is not possible to quantify the amounts involved.

  The UK Government and the Scottish Executive has agreed with fire authorities that the cost incurred in any dispute will be funded centrally, less the savings accruing from the non-payment of striking firefighters wages.

Fisheries

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31134 by Ross Finnie on 13 November 2002, when it will come to a view regarding the effects of industrial fishing on the food sources for young haddock and cod and whether it will make its findings public.

Ross Finnie: Young cod and haddock have a catholic diet that is not currently prejudiced by the industrial fisheries.

Flooding

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what responsibilities it and its agencies have to ensure the timely and effective use of extra resources released for flood prevention in Edinburgh.

Allan Wilson: The Executive is maintaining close contact with Edinburgh City Council as it develops and takes forward its plans for flood defences for Edinburgh.

  The council’s plans have not progressed to the stage where it would be appropriate for the council to make a request for additional funding from the Executive. No request has been made and, accordingly, no additional resources have been released for flood defences in Edinburgh. However, should the council make such a request in the future, it will be given due consideration.

Flooding

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the full remit is of the cabinet sub-committee appointed by the First Minister to investigate the incidence of flooding, flood prevention and related matters and whether the remit includes the development of a national system of monitoring.

Mr Jim Wallace: The remit of the Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers on Flooding Issues is:

  (a) To consider current arrangements for addressing flood risk and how advice and support is provided to those at risk from, and affected by, flooding, and

  (b) To provide advice to Cabinet by the end of February 2003 on how those arrangements can be improved.

  The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) currently monitors river levels nationally and uses this data in their flood warning system. The remit includes consideration of this system.

Flooding

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which witnesses the Cabinet sub-committee appointed to review issues relating to flooding will call to give evidence and whether these will include MSPs that represent areas that have experienced flooding.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers on Flooding Issues currently has no plans to invite witnesses to give evidence.

Flooding

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who has been appointed to the Cabinet sub-committee to review issues relating to flooding.

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1F-2185 by the First Minister on 31 October 2002, what remit has been agreed for the Cabinet sub-committee on flooding; which ministers will be invited to attend meetings of the sub-committee; when its first meeting will be, and whether it will consider general flooding issues or only flooding issues that affect transport.

Mr Jim Wallace: The remit of the Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers on Flooding Issues is:

  (a) To consider current arrangements for addressing flood risk and how advice and support is provided to those at risk from, and affected by, flooding, and

  (b) To provide advice to Cabinet by the end of February 2003 on how those arrangements can be improved.

  The Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers will consider general flooding issues within the terms of the group’s remit, including, but not restricted to, those issues which affect transport.

  The members the Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers on Flooding Issues are:

  Deputy First Minister (Chair)

  Minister for Finance and Central Services

  Minister for Environment and Rural Development

  Minister for Social Justice

  Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development

  Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning

  Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care (McAveety)

  The Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers on Flooding Issues met for the first time on 13 November 2002.

Food Standards

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the European Commission about changes in regulations governing the retail sale of food supplements and traditional herbal medicines.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that the agency represented the UK in negotiations on the EU Directive on Food Supplements which was published on the 12 July 2002. The Food Standards Agency Scotland will shortly consult on draft regulations to implement this directive in Scotland.

  Traditional herbal medicines are a reserved matter, dealt with by the Medicines Control Agency (MCA), the UK Medicines Regulatory Authority.

Genealogy

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that appropriate facilities are made available at local registration offices to allow public access to the new digital genealogy resources and what the cost will be to the customer of accessing such facilities.

Dr Richard Simpson: The General Register Office for Scotland plan to make the full set of digital images of genealogical records which are being generated as a result of the Digitally Imaging the Genealogical Records of Scotland’s people (DIGROS) project, available to all local registration services which adopt the new registration software and therefore have the requisite communications links.

  The fee that is charged by a local registrar to a customer making a general search in the annual indexes to the records for an hour or longer is prescribed in The Births, Deaths, Marriages and Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002 (SSI 2002 No. 390) which came into force from the first of October this year. However, local authorities, which provide the local registration service, may also charge for additional services offered by them. Such charges vary across local authorities.

Genealogy

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what will happen to the original archives held at registration offices upon completion of the digitising of these records under the DIGROS programme.

Dr Richard Simpson: No decision has yet been taken on what will be done with the duplicate statutory registers held by local registration services when the digitisation of statutory registers has been completed. The registers themselves are the property of the Registrar General, while provision of storage and record accommodation is a matter for local registration services. Provision for the duplicate registers from a particular area will therefore be a matter for discussion between the Registrar General and the local registration service. The General Register Office for Scotland will be happy to be flexible in their approach to this, as they have been on previous occasions when registers have been replaced by microfiche.

Genealogy

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations have been consulted on the setting up of the Scottish Family History Service.

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations will be involved in providing the Scottish Family History Service.

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to form partnerships with voluntary organisations in establishing the Scottish Family History Service.

Dr Richard Simpson: An announcement about the Scottish Family History Research Service project, including plans to consult a number of bodies, will be made shortly.

General Practitioners

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what processes are in place to allocate a general practitioner to patients when the patient has moved area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Regulations provide that when a patient has moved area and their application to join the list of a general practitioner has been refused they may apply to the appropriate Island NHS Board or Primary Care Trust for assignment to a general practitioner. Where the board or trust has been informed by the general practitioner that the application has been refused, it should inform the patient that an application should be made to another general practitioner or for assignment. If, after 14 days, the patient has not been accepted by another general practitioner and has not applied for assignment, they will be deemed to have applied for assignment.

  In selecting the general practitioner to whom a patient should be assigned, the board or trust should take into account whether the number of patients on any general practitioner’s list is at the maximum, the respective distances between the patient’s home and the practice premises of doctors in the area and such other matters which the board or trust considers relevant.

General Practitioners

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring system is in place to ensure that general practitioners are not refusing to add patients with a long history of ill health to their lists.

Malcolm Chisholm: Regulations provide that general practitioners may refuse applications from patients for inclusion in their lists. Any person whose application is refused has the right to be assigned to a general practitioner by the appropriate Island NHS Board or Primary Care Trust. No monitoring system is in place.

General Register Office

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been granted to Records Enterprise and what that body’s income has been in each year since 1997.

Dr Richard Simpson: The funding to run the business activities of the General Register Office (GROS) for Scotland is given by the Scottish Executive to GROS, which in turn allocates funding to a number of business areas within the department. Records Enterprise is a branch of GROS. Its remit is to make available public records about individuals to customers, including genealogists. It does so by giving access to records held by the Registrar General which are open to the public, and charging for searching and for copies of the records in line with the statutory fees. Prices are set to recover the costs of Records Enterprise.

  The total income of Records Enterprise in 1997-98 was £818,491, in 1998-99 £992,142, in 1999-2000 £1,248,168, in 2000-01 £1,440,385 and in 2001-02 £1,515,947.

General Register Office

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the General Register Office for Scotland intends to do with its paper records once they are digitalised; where these records will be held; whether any will be destroyed; whether they will be made available to local historical societies or appropriate bodies, and what the timescale is for the digitalisation of these records.

Dr Richard Simpson: As far as the statutory registers of births, marriages and deaths are concerned, two copies of each register are created, one of which is held by the local registration service which created it, and one which is sent to the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) in New Register House in Edinburgh.

  The registers held in New Register House will be preserved indefinitely. No decision has yet been taken on what will be done with the duplicate statutory registers held by local registration services when the digitisation of statutory registers has been completed. The registers themselves are the property of the Registrar General, while provision of storage and record accommodation is a matter for local registration services. Provision for the duplicate registers from a particular area will therefore be a matter for discussion between the Registrar General and the local registration service. GROS will be happy to be flexible in their approach to this, as they have been on previous occasions when registers have been replaced by microfiche.

  The other main sets of records that are being digitised by GROS are the open census records and the Old Parish Registers of the Church of Scotland, both of which are held at New Register House. These, again, will be preserved indefinitely.

  The Digitally Imaging the Genealogical Records of the Scottish people (DIGROS) project, under which the GROS is creating digital images of all its records, is expected to be completed by late 2003.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the placing of automated external defibrillators in public places.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-30646 on 29 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Historic Events

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to support the celebrations arranged by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society to mark the centenary of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.

Mike Watson: The Scottish Executive has no plans to become involved in the centenary of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.

Housing

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive in which five years from 1992-93 to 2001-02 spending on new and improved social housing was highest and what the average spending level on new and improved housing was for these years.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Spending on new and improved social housing was highest in the following five years – 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96 and 2001-02 with the average spending level being £239 million and the highest annual level of spending being £253 million in 2001-02.

Housing

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive in which five years from 1992-93 to 2001-02 spending on new and improved social housing was lowest.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Spending on new and improved social housing was lowest in the following five years - 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

Justice

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current capacity is for community disposals within the justice system.

Dr Richard Simpson: The current notional capacity for community disposals for which local authorities (and private sector contractor in the case of restriction of liberty orders) are funded amounts to 15,000 over a 12-month period.

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to encourage courts to use the power granted to them under section 96 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Dr Richard Simpson: Section 96 of the Crime and Disorder Act provides that, where it is proved that any offence was racially aggravated, that aggravation should be taken into account in sentencing. A guide to those provisions was issued by the then Scottish Office Home Department on 25 September 1998. The guidance made it clear that in cases involving racial aggravation the judge, whilst sentencing, would be expected to impose a higher sentence within the maximum available.

  The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service pursue a robust prosecution policy in cases of racist crime and area procurators fiscal are personally responsible for monitoring its implementation. In the last year prosecutors received 1,315 cases from the police which either included charges of racially aggravated harassment and behaviour or separate statutory racial aggravations. Proceedings which included either a statutory charge or aggravation were taken by procurators fiscal in 95% of these cases.

Minimum Wage

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many workers are paid less than the minimum wage and what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government on the impact that the implementation of minimum wage legislation will have on eradicating poverty.

Iain Gray: Responsibility for employment matters, including the National Minimum Wage (NMW), is reserved to the UK Government.

  The Scottish Executive has recently been asked to give evidence to the Low Pay Commission’s fourth annual report on the NMW.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific action has been taken to create opportunities for networking amongst those working in the culture sector to stimulate sharing of experience and good practice and the agreement of common objectives, as referred to in key priority 1.1 of strategic objective 1 of Creating our Future: Minding our Pas t.

Dr Elaine Murray: As stated in the second annual report of Scotland’s National Cultural Strategy, reviews of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen will report shortly. These have considered the sectoral interface and opportunities for networking and creative dialogue, and the findings will be reported. Specific examples of networks engaging the cultural agencies, local authorities and the sector appeared in the first annual report.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what actions have been taken to promote the contribution of new technologies to cultural life, as referred to in key priority 1.2 of strategic objective 1 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Dr Elaine Murray: As reported in the Scottish National Cultural Strategy Annual Report 2001 , there are in place a number of actions to promote the contribution of new technologies to cultural life. There are further examples in the Scottish National Cultural Strategy Annual Report 2002 .

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what actions have been taken to work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to assure the contribution of the broadcast media to Scotland’s cultural life, as referred to in key priority 1.2 of strategic objective 1 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Dr Elaine Murray: Extensive discussions, at both official and ministerial level, have taken place with the Department of Media, Culture and Sport to ensure that these issues are taken into account in the Communications Bill.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a national film charter has been established, as referred to in key priority 1.2 of strategic objective 1 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Dr Elaine Murray: As reported in the Scottish National Cultural Strategy Annual Report 2002 , Scottish Screen is encouraging and working with local authorities to develop a film charter for Scotland.

  Scottish Screen is liaising with COSLA in the preparation of guidelines to local authorities on the National Cultural Strategy, which will include advice on the adoption of the charter. As soon as these are launched, Scottish Screen will renew its campaign to roll out the charter to all local authorities and appropriate national agencies, and will consider how best to involve the private sector.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on establishing a national product design network, as referred to in key priority 1.2 of strategic objective 1 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Dr Elaine Murray: A number of meetings took place with potential members to progress the idea of a national product design network, as part of the Glasgow Design Project, but this network has not yet been established.

  However, the Lighthouse’s Creative Entrepreneurs Networking Club, which is supported by NESTA, Scottish Enterprise and Cap Gemini, has over 600 members, which include a substantial number of product designers. The club meets monthly and members are offered professional development, industry updates and access to a range of advice as well as contact with others in the field across Scotland.

  Also, over the next three years, the newly formed European Design Forum, which is funded by Culture 2000, will mount six workshops on a range of matters related to product design and manufacturing. During that period 30 Scottish design companies will have opportunities to network with their peers and meet a variety of businesses based in Europe.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific action has been taken to identify and promote the national roles and responsibilities and realise the full potential of the funded companies that work across Scotland, as referred to in key priority 1.3 of strategic objective 1 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Dr Elaine Murray: The Scottish Arts Council provides core funding to those arts bodies it considers have strategic national and regional roles to play. The council works closely with those bodies to ensure that such responsibilities are fully discharged. One hundred and ten arts bodies and organisations across Scotland are to receive core funding totalling some £27.8 million in 2002-03.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific action has been taken to promote partnerships by public and private bodies that support the production of the highest standards of cultural work, as referred to in key priority 1.3 of strategic objective 1 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Dr Elaine Murray: As stated in the second annual report of Scotland’s National Cultural Strategy, published 12 November 2002, Arts and Business Scotland’s New Partners funding scheme, supported by Government, continues its good work investing in projects which promote partnerships between private businesses and all branches of the arts. The national institutions also seek and receive valuable support from the private sector for projects of the highest standard. Again, examples appear in the recent report.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to examine the feasibility of a centre for the languages of Scotland, as referred to in key priority 2.1 of strategic objective 2 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past and what conclusions have been drawn from any such examination.

Mike Watson: A feasibility study is being undertaken with the support of the Carnegie Trust and this will report later in the year.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funds have been made available to support the production of education resources that encourage language diversity in each year since 1999, as referred to in key priority 2.1 of strategic objective 2 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Dr Elaine Murray: As stated in the second annual report of Scotland’s National Cultural Strategy, published 12 November 2002, core funding of £80,000 from the Scottish Arts Council, with £30,000 for establishment costs, has secured the new body, Scottish Language Dictionaries, offering a definitive resource relating to the Scots language.

  The first annual report of the strategy referred to Stòrlann – a national resource for Gaelic teaching materials. In 1999-2000 the Executive provided £80,000 to Stòrlann; in 2000-01 £120,000, in 2001-02 £145,000, and in 2002-03 £160,000.

  I can also report that since 1999 the Scottish Arts Council has granted a total of £2,312,392 towards education resources designed to encourage language diversity in Scots and Gaelic. This breaks down into £409,321 in 1999-2000; £545,013 in 2000-01; £746,233 in 2001-02, and (to date) for 2002-03, £611,825.

  Further support of resources encouraging language diversity and learning is evidenced in the Executive’s specific funding of Gaelic-medium education, modern language teaching resources, and of Glasgow’s International Language School: £7,902,000; £1,145,532, and £962,000 respectively covering the three-year period from April 1999 to March 2002.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines "where demand is sufficient" in relation to support for Gaelic-medium pre-school and primary education, as referred to in key priority 2.1 of strategic objective 2 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Mike Watson: In the publication, Improving Our Schools, A Consultation Paper on National Priorities for Schools Education in Scotland (2000) , ministers declared themselves to be sympathetic to the suggestion that where a sufficient number of parents wish their children to enter Gaelic-medium education their requests should be considered positively by education authorities. Any further definition is a matter for education authorities.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who participates in the action group established to consider how the languages and cultural traditions of Scotland’s ethnic communities can be supported, as referred to in key priority 2.1 of strategic objective 2 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past ; how many meetings the group has had, and whether any findings have been published.

Dr Elaine Murray: As stated in the first annual report of Scotland’s National Cultural Strategy, published October 2001, the Executive considered the proposal to establish such a group in light of a commitment in the Executive’s Equality Strategy’s to develop consultation methods acceptable to minority ethnic communities, and also in light of the Equal Futures Project and November 2001 conference. The Executive is exploring ways to develop more effective consultation and dialogue with minority ethnic communities. In the meantime we have concluded that the best approach is to pursue the Equal Futures Project. This aims to bring together children and young people to explore issues of identity, ethnicity and culture, and address racism, empowering all Scotland’s young people to celebrate the positive benefits of a multi-cultural society. To support this, the Executive has invested £150,000 in the project over a two-year period, to March 2004.

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the commitment made in key priority 2.2 of strategic objective 2 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past to review the existing statutory framework relevant to museums and galleries and consider the case for a comprehensive national framework.

Dr Elaine Murray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29020 on 19 September 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

National Cultural Strategy

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific action has been taken to encourage new partnerships in both public and private sectors and further collaboration within the library sector to include the exploitation of information and communication technologies and the development of policies for national collections, particularly in relation to Scottish material, as referred to in key priority 2.2 of strategic objective 2 of Creating our Future: Minding our Past .

Dr Elaine Murray: As reported in the National Cultural Strategy Annual report 2002, the New Opportunities Fund award of £4 million to Resource for Learning in Scotland, a consortium of the National Library of Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland, the Scottish Resource Access Network, and over 100 Scottish archives and libraries will create tens of thousands of newly digitised multimedia resources. The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) has also funded digitisation programmes in Perth, East Dunbartonshire and the Royal Botanic Garden. The Ayrshire Libraries Forum, with SLIC funding, is developing a collaborative framework for the procurement of generic Scottish material. SLIC has also established a group to "bookmark" websites covering a wide range of subjects including Scottish material. This will prevent duplication of effort and ensure a common approach to standards.

  Also reported, is an e-Government initiative now being developed by SLIC, with Executive funding, to demonstrate how cultural information and content can be used and shared, and how existing websites may be linked. The SLIC website carries information on Scottish writers both present and past.

  In addition, SLIC, which receives core funding of £160,000 from the Executive, has an important role in liasing with COSLA and a wide range of other organisations, including Scottish Enterprise, SUFI, Scottish Further Education Unit, NHS Scotland and the New Opportunities Fund.

Pollution

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation was carried out on the implementation of the regulations under Directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control.

Allan Wilson: The Executive (and the former Scottish Office) carried out five separate consultations on options to transpose the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (96/61/EC). A wide range of industries, businesses, trade associations, statutory bodies, local authorities and environmental interest groups were consulted. The directive was implemented through the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000.

Post Office

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support growth in business for urban post offices.

Allan Wilson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1O-5935 on 21 November 2002, which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/search.htm.

Pre-School Education

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of children have had access to quality care and early learning before entering school in the Renfrewshire Council area in each year since 1996.

Cathy Jamieson: Figures on all forms of pre-school education and daycare for children under five were collected for the first time in 2001. Prior to that, figures for daycare services were collected every three years, whilst figures for pre-school education were collected annually. This means it is not possible to give accurate estimates between 1996 and 2000.

  For 2001 and 2002, the numbers and percentage of children who were provided with these services in the Renfrewshire council area is given the in following table.

  


Year 
  

Under-fives in Pre-school Education or Daycare 
  

% of Under-fives 
  



2001 
  

4,140 
  

39 
  



2002 
  

4,500 
  

46

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29771 by Mr Jim Wallace on 15 October 2002, why the cost of education at HM Prison Polmont rose by approximately 54% between 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The number of hours of learning delivered to the young offenders in YOI Polmont doubled between the first and the second year. This was an outcome of the high priority that SPS attached to developing the learning provision for young offenders.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29901 by Mr Jim Wallace on 23 October 2002, why the sale of HM Prison Penninghame was not included in the table.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The question asked about sale of land whereas Penninghame was sold as a property (inclusive of land and buildings). On the same basis the former HM Prison Dungavel and some staff quarters and garages were also excluded from the table.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30376 by Mr Jim Wallace on 31 October 2002, how much of the fixed element of the variable payment for the 48 additional prisoner places in HM Prison Kilmarnock, referred to in paragraph 6 of schedule E to the Minute of Agreement between the Secretary of State for Scotland and Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd for the Design, Construction, Management and Financing of a Prison at Kilmarnock , has been spent on empty places in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03 to date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  None. Payment is made only for those additional prisoner places that are occupied.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29085 by Mr Jim Wallace on 20 September 2002, what period elapsed between its decision to build a private prison and the awarding of the contract to build HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29809 on 18 October 2002, which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Public Office

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make abuse of public office an offence.

Mr Andy Kerr: None. The Ethical Standards in Public Life Etc (Scotland) Act 2000 puts in place an ethical framework for members of devolved public bodies and councillors. The act established the Standards Commission for Scotland which is an independent body responsible for overseeing the introduction and operation of Codes of Conduct.

  Should the Standards Commission reveal any possible criminal allegations as part of an investigation, the case and evidence gathered will be passed to the appropriate authorities. The Codes of Conduct will come into effect in the new year.

Public Sector Pay

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost to the public sector would be of introducing the Low Pay Unit’s minimum wage level of £7.32 per hour, showing the cost to local government and the NHS separately.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information on the costs to all parts of the public sector in Scotland is not held centrally. However, as an illustration of the anticipated costs it is estimated that it would cost around an extra £189 million a year to introduce a wage level of £7.32 per hour for NHSScotland staff.

Rail Network

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Network Rail about its operation in Scotland and what changes it anticipates there will be in the structure, responsibilities and lines of accountability of the company in Scotland from those of Railtrack Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with Railtrack/Network Rail on a wide range of issues, including the company’s plans for its future operations in Scotland.

Roads

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to minimise traffic disruption from road excavations and street works.

Lewis Macdonald: This is a matter for each roads authority utilising the powers available to them under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. There is a requirement on the utility companies to give roads authorities advance notice of all road works and reinstatements. The act further requires roads authorities to keep a register of road works in roads for which they are responsible. Information submitted by utility companies is circulated to other utility companies so that, where possible, they may co-ordinate road works.

Roads

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to minimise deterioration to road surfaces caused by repeated excavations or street works on the same stretch of road.

Lewis Macdonald: This is a matter for individual roads authorities. Section 131 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991(the act) gives roads authorities powers, in the event of a failure by a utility company to reinstate the road properly, to issue a notice to the utility company requiring it to carry out remedial works within a prescribed period. Should this notice not be complied with, the authority may carry out the necessary works and recover the costs reasonably incurred by them in doing so.

  Additionally, section 130 of the act requires that a utility company executing road works shall, in reinstating the road, comply with such requirements as may be prescribed by the road authority as to the specification of materials to be used and the standards of workmanship to be observed. This specification is currently contained in the Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways Code of Practice. Failure to comply with section 130 is an offence which, on summary conviction, is liable to a fine not exceeding level 3 (£1,000) on the standard scale.

Scottish Executive Publications

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of publishing, printing and distributing Scotland’s National Cultural Strategy – Annual Report 2002 .

Mike Watson: The cost, including web conversion, for publishing and printing the 2nd Annual Report of the National Cultural Strategy amounts to about £18,000. The report has been disseminated directly, and through cultural agency networks, local authorities and the Executive’s website, to known individual interests and to cultural organisations across Scotland.

Scottish Executive Websites

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30632 by Ross Finnie on 12 November 2002, whether the costs given for (a) establishing and (b) operating annually the Do a Little, Change a Lot website are inclusive of VAT.

Ross Finnie: The costs of establishing and operating the new Do a Little, Change a Lot website, as set out in the answer given to question S1W-30632, exclude VAT. Including VAT, the equivalent costs would be £30,550 and £8,577 respectively. The cost of the previous version of the website set out in question S1W-30632 includes VAT.

Student Finance

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of recipients of an access bursary have been domiciled in (a) Renfrewshire and (b) Paisley since the bursaries were introduced.

Iain Gray: The Young Students’ Bursary is provided as an entitlement based on the level of parental income. Eligibility for the bursary is assessed as part of the overall assessment of eligibility for student support.

  In academic year 2001-02, there were 13,579 recipients of the Young Students' Bursary, of whom 5% were domiciled in Renfrewshire and 2% were domiciled in Paisley.

  Decisions on awards from Hardship Funds allocations are made by colleges and universities who are best placed to assess whether individual students need this additional support. Information on recipients' domicile is not held centrally.

Substance Abuse

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that young people are made aware of the dangers of solvent abuse.

Dr Richard Simpson: Our latest annual survey has revealed that 98% of schools in Scotland are providing drug education, which covers solvents, in line with national advice. The Executive's Know the Score website provides links to other sites which explain the facts about drugs, including solvents. The Know the Score Informationline also caters for people who want advice about solvents.

  The Executive funds the core costs of the Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS), Scotland Against Drugs (SAD) and the Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF), all of whom produce materials highlighting the risks associated with solvent abuse. HEBS and SAD jointly produced The facts of drugs - a parent’s guide, which has a section on volatile substances. The booklet is designed to help parents become better informed about drugs and be able to discuss the issues with their children. Information about solvents is also included in SAD’s Drugs - know your stuff and the SDF’s Drugfax.

Voluntary Sector

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult YouthLink Scotland in order to identify the administrative costs that national youth organisations claim to incur in the administration of Disclosure Scotland checks on voluntary youth workers.

Dr Richard Simpson: The impact on voluntary organisations of the introduction of criminal record checks under Part V of the Police Act 1997 was examined by the Voluntary Issues Review Group set up by the Scottish Executive in 1999. YouthLink Scotland was represented on the Group.

  The group’s principal recommendation was that volunteers working with children (up to the age of 18) in the voluntary sector should be able to get criminal record certificates without cost to them or to the voluntary organisations concerned. The group also recommended that a Central Registered Body should be established to process applications for free checks and to provide guidance and advice for the voluntary sector to help the sector make the best possible use of the Part V certificates. Ministers accepted both these recommendations and agreed to make available the necessary funding to cover the costs of implementing them.

  We are currently reviewing the operation of the Central Registered Body and its relationship with Disclosure Scotland. We will arrange for YouthLink Scotland to be consulted as part of the review process.

Voluntary Sector

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many seminars on the working of the Scottish Compact have been conducted by the Voluntary Issues Unit since May 1999 and how many of its staff attended these.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Voluntary Issues Unit, in liaison with the voluntary sector, is continuing to run a series of seminars on the Scottish Compact for Scottish Executive staff. Seminars have been held with the Departments for Development, Education, Health, Finance and Central Services, and with the Environment and Rural Affairs Department. Attendees at each seminar vary on average between 30 and 50 individuals.

  The next seminar in the series is planned for the Justice Department early in 2003.